After observing for a while, Shinji asked, "How are you two feeling now?"
Neji touched his smooth forehead, momentarily stunned, then said, "My body doesn't feel any different, but what about the Tenseigan? Wasn't it just on my forehead?"
Kimimaro, typically indifferent, also showed a trace of confusion on his face.
Before Shinji could respond, 'H' explained, "Don't panic. The Tenseigan has only gone into a dormant state. Otherwise, all three of us would have died!"
Neji immediately activated his Byakugan to check, then let out a breath.
Undoubtedly, in his Byakugan's vision, he saw the Tenseigan resting perfectly at his forehead, its chakra fluctuations gradually calming, as if, as 'H' said, it had entered a deep state of dormancy.
Shinji shook his head.
From Neji and Kimimaro's reactions, it seemed neither had gained any significant benefits from this attempt to awaken the Tenseigan.
Typically, when an original host successfully evolves a dojutsu Bloodline Limit, both the quantity and quality of their chakra would see a massive boost post-awakening.
For example, Karin, after awakening her Rinnegan, had her physical condition further enhanced, gaining the ability to bear a pair of Rinnegan.
Yet Neji, Kimimaro, and even 'H,' who completed the Tenseigan's awakening, hadn't gained enough improvement from this process.
This indicated that their cooperation had merely acted like a high-grade incubator, through Shinji's precise calculations, luckily producing a pair of Tenseigan without achieving a soul-level resonance with them.
In other words, this pair of Tenseigan still lacked a true original host. Neji and Kimimaro were, at best, temporary hosts.
From this, Shinji also saw the vast gap between ordinary shinobi and the Ōtsutsuki.
Neji, from the prestigious Hyūga clan of the Hidden Leaf Village, and Kimimaro, from the Kaguya clan of the Hidden Mist Village, were both exceptional in terms of bloodline and talent within the shinobi world.
Yet even such shinobi struggled immensely to bear even a single Tenseigan when faced with a dojutsu Bloodline Limit of this caliber.
In contrast, Toneri Ōtsutsuki on the moon could effortlessly awaken the Tenseigan by transplanting Hanabi's pure Byakugan. Not only that, but he bore it with ease, and after passing the adaptation period, he could wield extreme dojutsu techniques like the "Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion" and "Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion" with casual mastery.
The gap between them was like an unbridgeable chasm!
Setting aside his thoughts, Shinji turned his attention back to Neji and Kimimaro.
Currently, the Tenseigan at their foreheads were in an adaptation period. Due to their dormancy, this period might be prolonged.
Thus, Shinji couldn't extract the Tenseigan from their foreheads.
Doing so would disrupt the fragile balance, and the still-unstable Tenseigan could revert to enhanced pure Byakugan.
There was a precedent in the original timeline.
After Toneri Ōtsutsuki was defeated by Naruto, the Tenseigan he had evolved from Hanabi's stolen pure Byakugan was reclaimed by Naruto and Hinata. Once separated from Toneri's body and deprived of Ōtsutsuki chakra, that pair of Tenseigan immediately reverted to pure Byakugan.
Based on this, Shinji abandoned the idea of extracting the Tenseigan now. After all, he didn't want the Tenseigan, gained through sheer luck, to revert to its original form—that would be a massive loss!
He trusted Neji, but Kimimaro was another matter.
If Kimimaro told Orochimaru about the dormant Tenseigan in his forehead, it could spell big trouble.
Given Orochimaru's obsession with dojutsu Bloodline Limits, he might immediately try to extract the dormant Tenseigan from Kimimaro's forehead.
As Shinji pondered silently, Neji said, "Leader, rest assured, we will protect the Tenseigan well!"
Kimimaro nodded in agreement.
Shinji glanced at Neji, then slowly shifted his gaze to Kimimaro. "You understand what the Tenseigan represents, don't you? Saving the shinobi world in the future may well depend on its power, so it must never fall into anyone else's hands!"
Kimimaro replied decisively, "If you doubt me, I can hand over the Tenseigan right now."
Shinji didn't hide his concerns, saying bluntly, "I can't take your Tenseigan because its current state is unstable and can't be removed from your body. 'H,' am I correct?"
'H' responded, "Yes, your judgment is correct! If we extracted the Tenseigan from 'F' and 'G' now, we'd only get two Byakugan."
Kimimaro frowned slightly.
He had no desire for the Tenseigan's power. If Shinji asked, he would hand it over immediately. Considering his future predicament, he even wished he could give it up now to avoid being caught between the organization and Orochimaru.
But the problem was that the Tenseigan couldn't be removed from his body, leaving him unsure of what to do.
Seeing Kimimaro's hesitation, Neji urged, "'F,' these eyes are our responsibility! If the shinobi world faces a crisis in the future, these eyes might be the hope to save it. So, I beg you, please protect it well!"
'H' added, "Exactly! When I was awakening the Tenseigan, even through Leader's Chakra Barrier, I sensed the giant Tenseigan on the moon. Without this pair of Tenseigan, we'd have no chance of resisting the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon!"
Kimimaro remained silent.
He didn't care about the shinobi world's safety or even his own life and death. What mattered to him was the feeling of being needed.
Orochimaru had given him that feeling, so he had no regrets serving Orochimaru, even offering his body as a vessel.
But now, the organization gave him that same feeling. Beyond that, he felt the warmth of comrades in the organization. For the first time, someone who had never wavered was now deeply conflicted.
This was a conflict of identity and allegiance—he was lost.
Shinji didn't press Kimimaro for a decision, simply waiting quietly.
He knew this was a critical moment. Kimimaro was at a crossroads. If he passed this test, his loyalty would shift from Orochimaru to Shinji!
After a moment, Kimimaro spoke, "Alright, regarding the Tenseigan, I'll keep it an absolute secret! But only for this matter!"
Beneath his mask, Shinji's lips curved slightly upward.
Absolute loyalty or none at all—once there was a start, this staunch follower of Orochimaru would become his own.
And even if something unexpected happened, he still had 'H' as an insider to keep watch.